Shade: The Frankenstein Saga, Book 1

A Re-Imagining of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

By: Merrie Destefano

Narrated by: Katherine Holt

Length: 1 hr and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Book 1 in the Award-Winning Series:

A dangerous holiday.

A deadly curse brought to life.

When Mary Shelley accepted an invitation to Lord Byron’s house party deep in the Swiss Alps, she hoped it would serve as a welcome distraction from her broken heart. Instead, she finds herself surrounded by enigmatic guests with their own dangerous secrets to hide. From the moment of her arrival, the party is more than it seems, as Mary and the others are strictly forbidden from leaving the villa after dark.

But tales of feral beasts aren’t the only rumors whispering through the halls. Doctor John Polidori, a handsome and mysterious party guest, fervently pursues local legends that the dead can rise, ruled by their own barbaric king. When the group plays a game of storytelling to pass the time, they weave together tales of nightmarish ghouls and horrible villains inspired by the myths — and Mary soon realizes their harmless stories have the power to conjure.

Twisted creatures will come to call. The dead will stalk the villa. And their royal master will stop at nothing to claim Mary as his own....

2019 Realm Award Winner in Supernatural/Paranormal/Horror

2019 Moonbeam Children’s Book Award, Silver Medal Winner, Young Adult Fiction — Horror/Mystery

Frankenstein meets Dracula in this Gothic retelling of Mary Shelley’s classic tale.

©2018 Merrie Destefano (P)2020 Merrie Destefano

Haunting and beautiful

Shade is a fictional reimagining of the writing of Frankenstein by Mary Shelly.

It takes may elements from classic gothic literature and posits that Shelly's fiction may have been inspired by supernatural events.

We meet shades of Doctor Frankenstein, and Dracula and well as what might become a Werewolf.

The narrator Katherine Holt, has a beautiful voice that sweeps you up into the first person narrative and seems to make reality melt away as you become engulfed in the dark world of Victorian horror.

This is only the first book in a trilogy so be prepared to be left wanting more.

Good

I was surprised that the author mentioned Mary’s baby and that she was thinking a lot about death and reanimation as a result, I’ve studied Mary a lot out of interest and that was something I kept circling back to as well after finding out she lost her baby girl before writing Frankenstein. Overall, this audiobook was good!

Interesting retelling

I liked Destefano's twist on Mary Shelley's inspiration for Frankenstein. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Death & Rebirth - Science vs Supernatural Horrors

Love this thrilling, unique take on the events of the summer of 1816. Popularly known as the Year Without a Summer, the unusually cold 1816 led to the challenge that birthed two of the greatest horror icons of our time - Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and The Vampyre, which helped inspire one Bram Stoker.

DeStefano, with a very deft hand, reframes the original account with far more horrifying and deadly results, even weaving in hints of a third classic monster tale.

Stellar narration by Katherine Holt brings DeStefano’s prose to terrifying new heights, draws the listener in and doesn’t let go.

Highly recommended for horror and Universal monster fans, as well as anyone looking for a new twist on a historical novel.

Loved it!

Shade is one of my favorite books from Merrie Destefano, I just had to take a listen, and boy am I happy I did!
The story is fantastic, the prose is dark and delicious, and Katherine Holt's execution as the narrator is exactly what I'd dreamed of as a reader. It made the perfect trifecta!

If you've already read this outstanding trilogy and call yourself a fan, then you must listen to the audio edition.
And if you haven't, this is a great way to get started on the series.

I definitely recommend it!

Shade: The Frankenstein Saga, Book 1 review

I actually liked this. It really was an interesting retelling, and now look forward to part two and beyond in this series.

Exciting, Hair-Raising, Absolutely Chilling!

If you are a fan of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, you are sure to enjoy Shade. A holiday with two well-known authors seeking inspiration in their writing… Suddenly, a pack of wolves is brutally attacked by an unknown creature thought to be a bear. For me, the mystery really takes off when Mary catches John carting wolf carcasses to look over and determine cause of death? Uh...no. More like to sew bits back together and see what happens! Surely nothing can go wrong. And then....it all goes horribly wrong. This is a perfect story for a dark and stormy night, sitting by the fire to warm yourself from the hair-raising chills of Merrie's words...or are they warnings for us all? Be prepared to get hooked on this trilogy. You might as well buy all three right now, because you are not going to want to end with just book one. Trust me.

I loved this audiobook

The narrator, Catherine Holt was quite remarkable. She set the tone of the story so perfectly. The descriptions of the characters and their surroundings came to life for me. I was thrilled by the originality of the story and was totally engrossed in it. I’ve listen to it once and I’m looking forward to listening to it again.

Dangerously Good!!!

This reimagined view of history, where winter swallows the world and three of England's most influential creators meet their own personal monsters, is so inventive and clever. There needs to be a Netflix series made of this gem of a tale asap! Very addicting! It really got my imagination buzzing. Especially in this audio version. The reader was sublime! I'm jumping immediately into Part Two!!